La plage aux êtres

As her team digitises the traces of an unidentified creature, a palaeontologist mourns a loved one. A meditation on preservation, daughter of discovery and mother of loss.

  • Kendra McLaughlin
    Director
  • Le Fresnoy - Studio natioanl
    Producer
  • Kendra McLaughlin
    Cinematography
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    La plage aux êtres
  • Project Type:
    Student
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Experimental, Science Fiction
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    France
  • Language:
    English, French
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Le Fresnoy - Studio national des arts contemporains
  • Festival de Films de Femmes
    Créteil
    France
    March 16, 2022
    World, Domestic
    International Competition
  • Videoformes
    Clermont-Ferrand
    France
    March 19, 2022
    Video Competition
Distribution Information
  • Le Fresnoy - Studio national
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Kendra McLaughlin

Kendra McLaughlin is a Canadian artist and researcher.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

'La plage aux êtres' proposes a meditation on the shared fragility of organic and digital material. In the dark, a team of palaeontologists digitizes the traces of a creature that they hope to identify. Amongst them, a researcher mourns a loved one touched by disease. Cloaked in an atmosphere of uncertainty and inquiry, the film parallels the analysis of these two bodies: one from 150 million years ago, the other from the generation just before. Though distanced in space and time, the two's filiation is established under the light of CT-scans, a 3D imaging technique shared by archeology and medicine. Between these digital replicas of prehistoric and present-day remains, 'La plage aux êtres' exposes the affect that dwells in acts of preservation.